Three new species of the congrid eel genus Gnathophis (Anguilliformes: Congridae) from the Arabian Sea Author Kodeeswaran, Paramasivam 0000-0002-4636-3056 Faculty of Fisheries Science, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kochi, Kerala- 682 506, India. kodyvenkat1995@gmail.com Author Karmovskaya, Emma S. 0000-0002-0636-4265 Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences-IO RAS, Moscow, Russia. karmov@yandex.ru text Zootaxa 2025 2025-12-01 5725 1 89 105 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5725.1.3 journal article 313521 10.11646/zootaxa.5725.1.3 6484f440-becb-4d13-a19c-01554ad78dbb 1175-5326 17868271 5FF216F3-F0D5-4A83-A275-A158286323B7

TABLE 1. Morphometric and meristic data of Gnathophis specimens from the Arabian Sea, India

	Gnathophis ajithi		Gnathophis anilmohapatrai		Gnathophis arabicus
	Holotype	Range	Holotype	Range	Holotype	Range
Total length (mm)	343	347–484 (n=6)	234	210–255 (n=9)	255	190–255 (n=6)
%TL
Preanal length	39.7	37.3–42.6	40.0	38.7–42.2	33.7	35.2–39.0
Predorsal length	20.7	19.4–20.7	19.3	17.4–19.6	17.1	16.5–19.4
Head length	18.3	18.0–19.1	17.5	15.7–17.5	15.2	14.1–16.0
Trunk	21.3	19.7–24.4	22.4	22.4–25.6	22.1	19.7–24.1
Tail	60.3	57.4–62.8	60.0	57.8–61.3	62.7	61.0–64.8
Depth at anus	3.7	4.0–4.6	3.9	3.8–4.5	3.1	2.8–3.4
Width at anus	2.8	3.2–3.7	3.4	2.8–3.4	2.2	2.2–2.5
Depth at gill opening	5.2	5.6–7.1	5.9	4.1–5.9	4.9	3.6–4.9
Width at gill opening	4.2	3.7–4.6	3.6	2.9–3.9	2.4	2.4–2.9
%HL
Snout	25.2	24.5–26.8	27.1	23.8–29.8	22.9	21.6–24.5
Eye	17.7	15.7–17.7	17.6	18.0–22.1	18.9	17.4–23.9
Interorbital	13.2	9.6–13.2	11.5	7.3–13.6	12.4	10.5–12.8
Upper jaw	33.1	31.0–33.5	36.7	37.0–39.0	33.6	32.4–35.1
Lower jaw	27.9	25.0–27.9	27.6	27.6–31.8	25.3	25.2–29.8
Gill opening	11.7	10.6–16.0	12.7	6.4–13.9	15.1	9.0–15.1
Interbranchial	18.2	17.6–24.4	17.9	17.9–25.5	18.6	14.6–18.8
Pectoral fin	24.7	24.7–28.5	23.4	22.4–29.7	28.6	25.9–31.4
Vertebrae
Pre-dorsal	10	9–10	10	9–11	10	9–10
Pre-anal	29	28–34	42	40–42	40	39–40
Pre-caudal	36	33–38	48	47–48	45	44–46
Total vertebrae	124	122–126	136	133–138	145	143–146
Lateral-line pores
Pre-pectoral	7	6–7	6	6–7	7	6–7
Pre-dorsal	10	7–10	8	8–9	11	9–12
Pre-anal	27	29–33	38	36–40	40	36–41